Your down-to-earth guide to the best in fitness fashion.

About

Hi. My name is Aimee. And I own 20 pairs of black capri workout pants. I am a huge fan of fitness fashion and I (obviously) buy way too much of it. Which means I can help you find the good, and avoid the bad and the stuff that will make you feel ugly.

Yup. That doesn’t even include the yoga pants. And the winter running pants. And the two pairs of shorts I never wear.

But it goes a little deeper than that. I’ve been thinking about confidence, achievement, sports, fitness, and yes, what your clothes have to do with it, for years. In college, I was a psych major and my focus was the concept of flow states (aka being in the zone). In my advertising life, I’ve written campaigns for adidas, Fox Sports, Nike, and The Women’s Tennis Association in the sport world and Piperlime and Sorel in the fashion world. Nike Goddess and Just Do It are what made me want to become a copywriter in the first place. I wrote a whole campaign for Piperlime about the power of dressing well. And I’ve been doing home workouts and going to the gym and reading every single diet book and trying every single P-90 pilates paleo everything since I was twelve. Put it all together, and you get Pretty-Sweaty: a fitness fashion blog where I review clothes, gear, and workouts and make it my mission to encourage people to look put together when they workout, because it really, scientifically helps to like what you see in the mirror when you’re sweating your face off and feeling your fat jiggle. You need to put your battle gear on when you’re going to go fight. Liking what you see in the mirror isn’t about vanity, it’s about confidence. It’s powerful. And we all deserve and need to feel powerful, way before we think we’re “after”s.

These two campaigns are the work that I’m most proud of in my advertising career:

(And yes, I wrote these ads. Yes I wrote the Impossible is Nothing Manifesto. It’s not an Ali quote, it was a long copy ad that I wrote for adidas. It’s called advertising, internet!)

Anyway, put them together: refusing to believe in limits, and also, hey, clothes matter, and you get Pretty-Sweaty.com

Want to know about my fitness/sports/weight loss background? OK. I’ll blab at you some more.

I’m a fitness fan. Not a fitness professional. I’m not the girl who was a dancer and a track star who became a nutritionist and a trainer. I’m the fat kid. The one they called “Aimee-o-Lehto, Aimee-o-Fatso.” The one they asked to be the “anchor” in tug of war on field day. The one with no varsity letters. The one who got lapped running the mile at the track meet. I’ve been doing home workouts since “Bodies in Motion” with Gilad Jankwolitz when I was 12. I’ve run a marathon (one. almost ten years ago.). I did one pull up. Once. And I’ve read pretty much every women’s fitness magazine and diet book you can think of. (Try me.) Putting it all in to practice, of course, is a different thing. I’m not here to tell you what to do on that front, because I’m still figuring out what works. (Right now: HIIT functional strength training and Dailey Method are working for me.) BUT I CAN help you figure out how to look good and feel confident and powerful when you do whatever workout you’re loving right now.

This is me. In a trick mirror. Taken from a trick angle. Standing a bit sideways so I look narrower.

I’m a total failure, just like you. I have been somewhere in between normal and Miss Piggy plump my whole life. I want to be thin and strong, shit, I want to be DIESEL. But right now I’m “starting to feel strong” underneath a lot of, um, fluff in the middle and butt and thigh bits. I love working out, but I have yet to master portion control. So I’ve been 15-40 pounds away from where I want to be my entire life. I’ve taken probably 150 “before” pictures and never taken an after. I’m a 5’6″ size 10(+) who wants to be a 5’8″ size 6(-). I’m a pear. I’ve got an Italian/German butt. Baby got back. LA Face with an Oakland Booty. My thighs overlap like a Venn Diagram. I have cellulite everywhere, even ON MY CALVES (?!?) There’s a reason I wear tunics and leggings and tunics and leggings and tunics and leggings. And no, I’m not posting a picture of my butt. Like, ever.

This is me too. Same week. But still, this mirror is definitely a fun house “skinny mirror” so just know that there’s always a bit of manipulation going on in everybody’s pictures, OK? Ok.

But that’s not the point. I’ll share with you what’s working and what’s not. And maybe as I focus on being a part of the fitness community, I’ll get there. But what this blog is really about is helping YOU like the way you look RIGHT NOW instead of waiting to like yourself until you think you’re an AFTER. Deal? Deal. Let’s do this.

Hi Aimee, God BLESS you, woman! I am so glad I stumbled onto your blog. As a 41 YO mother who is a solid 20 lbs from her goal weight, I could not identify with you more. You sound just like the voice I hear inside my head- only your voice is WAY cooler than mine. I guffawed after reading your commentary on the “Be More” Knotted Tee from your Sept ’15 review of Free People’s fitness line: “All I see is “Be more…skinny! Be more! But take up less space.'” OMG, hilarious. Your practical insights excite me (Because who knew there were sports bras that could effectively hide back fat?), and your determination inspires me. I hope that my reply, in turn, inspires you. Because the world SO needs more YOU!

Hugs from NC!

PS. Your “Impossible is Nothing” Adidas campaign is EVERYTHING! Except, in my head, I like to imagine a picture of an overweight woman with a look of pained determination approaching a 10K finish line. My version probably wouldn’t sell more Adidas apparel, but for me, at least, those are the people who truly motivate me to keep going.

Hey, just discovered your blog. I’m 38 years old and have 4 young kids. Our youngest just entered preschool a couple of mornings a week so I decided to join a gym. On the first day there, I wore black bootcut yoga pants and a t-shirt, which I erroneously considered a ‘classic’ workout look. Uh, no. Everyone else was in cute, patterned capris and strappy/flowy tank tops. That, combined with all the new-fangled gym equipment (‘what’s up with all these ropes??’ I thought), kind of made me feel out of it, but then I hadn’t stepped into a gym since literally 2003.
Anyway, found your site while researching new workout clothes. (Why did that last sentence sound so sad?) You had me laughing and feeling a whole lot less alone, and I got some great, real-life ideas regarding gym fashion. So thank you, and I hope you’ll continue this blog; it’s a good one. 🙂

Thanks, Monica! How sweet of you. Have fun getting back into the gym. You’ll be fine, clearly. Also, cute workout clothes are available everywhere now, so you’ll have no problems finding something you like fast. And ropes are super fun! GO YOU!!!

Ah. That’s a tough one. I tried stretchy tech tank tops. Athleta used to carry some that had some ruching, which helped a little. See this post: https://pretty-sweaty.com/2016/03/24/pearshapedproblems-training-tops-and-running-pants/
But most of the stretchy tops still slide up unless your pants are grippy cotton not slippy spandex. Honestly, I usually wear a tunic and either have to tie it or tuck it in for burpees. For hourglass / pear-shaped people, I haven’t found a stay-in-place top yet. Let me know if you do!

Hello! Welcome to Pretty-Sweaty, the fitness fashion blog

My name is Aimee and I'm a fitness fashion freak. I'm here to tell you about all the good, the bad, and the ugly, and how to dress for your workout so you feel like a total badass superhero warrior person. Because you are.